U.S. delivers written response to demands from Moscow amid continued tensions with Ukraine
Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he made it clear to Russia that the U.S. will be standing by its principles
Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the U.S. has made no concessions to the primary set of demands from Russia pertaining to Ukraine and NATO, in a written response delivered to Moscow on Wednesday.
Russia has asked for a guarantee that Ukraine (as well as other ex-Soviet nations) will never be admitted into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, and that the alliance will remove the troop deployments that have been sent to other former Soviet bloc nations.
"There is no change, there will be no change," said Blinken, signaling that the U.S. is firmly committed to standing strong against pushing from Vladimir Putin. Blinken also said the document was sent with the blessing of President Biden, whom he said made personal edits and was closely involved in its development process.
NATO, also known as the North Atlantic Alliance, includes the U.S. and 27 European nations.
Putin has used his demands as justification for the 100,000 troops he has amassed on the Ukrainian border.